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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

How to Make Lined Pinch Pleat Drapes

I am so excited to share this tutorial with you. My fabric arrived last week and I spent one whole evening sewing drapes for my guest bedroom.

It all started when I found this awesome fabric at Calico Corners.

Image from Calico Corners

I fell in love with the fabric and ordered six yards on the spot to make new drapes for my guest bedroom.

I started by rolling out the fabric and cutting the fabric to the length I needed. I determined this length by measuring from the existing rod to the floor. In my case the finished length of the drapes would be 85". I added 6" for the bottom hem and 4 inches for the top for a total of 95". After cutting the first 95" length I took the fabric and laid it over the cut piece and lined up the pattern and cut a second 95" length for the second panel. This way I made sure I would end up with two identical panels with the pattern lining up.

For the lining I bought two flat sheets from Walmart for $5.00 each. Flat sheets work so well for several reasons. First of all they were a much more cost effective option. Second, the flat sheet already comes hemmed. I ironed both sheets.

Next step...the bottom hem. I started by folding the fabric up 2" and ironing it. Next I folded the fabric up an additional 4" for the bottom hem. Then, for a professional look, I blind-stitched the hem. I will do a tutorial on blind-stitching later in the week. It was the first time I did one, and let me tell you, it made a world of difference to the final product.

Next it was time to add the lining. I laid the lining (the flat sheet) with right sides facing together.

I pinned the lining on the sides and on the top making sure to leave approximately two inches at the bottom. I then sewed along all three sides. Then turn the drapes back to the right side and press the sides and top flat.

As you can see, the flat sheet already has the perfect hem. One less step...yay!!

I was now ready for the pinch pleats. A few years ago I bought this pleater tape from JoAnn's always wanting to try this on drapes. I figured this was the perfect opportunity. It worked awesome. All I did was place it near the top of my drape, measuring from the hook to ensure the proper length. I then sewed it on the top and the bottom making sure not to sew over any of the openings for the hooks.

Then I inserted the pleater hooks. The pleater hooks have four "fingers". I skipped every other pocket for each finger and then skipped two pockets in between each hook. Then I pushed the fingers in as far as they would go.

Then, I fixed the pleats to line them up exactly. I then pressed the pleats to help them keep their shape.

Finally I sewed each group of pleats together using heavy duty thread. I only put two or three stitches in each group of pleats.

Then I simply hung the hooks over my curtain rod. These are dummy panels so they won't be moving. If you have a transverse rod, you would have the hooks in the traverse rod and then you could open and close the drapes.

This was the first time I have ever made lined drapes and the first time I made pleated drapes. It was time consuming, but really not difficult at all. If you can sew a straight line you can make these drapes.

You can see how the pattern lines up in the photo. Make sure to cut both panels of fabric at the same time to ensure the finished patterns line up.

I am so happy with the end result. They add so much life to my guest room.

I hope you will try this. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. I'd be happy to help you.

I see you came up with a Fall into Fall button. I like it. When you asked me yesterday if I had any ideas, that's the only thing I could think of was Fall into Fall. Apparently, we were thinking alike!

I love the fabric- no wonder you ordered it up straight away. I always make my own curtains and have to compliment you on your clear tutorial -you are right- more thabnanything, it is very time consuming but so rewarding. Lovely job.xo Bea

A small tip on drapes... if you make the lining a few inches less in the width & then sew together at the sides, they will fold in at the sides & have a small (1" or so) side hem... (I bought a HUGE amount of pleater tape just last night a GW...for $1.00.. never know when I will need it next : )

Those looks so beautiful Judy!! I have made lined drapes before but never attempted pinch pleats. You make it sound so easy! :-) That was an excellent tutorial and they truly do look gorgeous! :-)See you tonight,Vanessa

The key word being "if" you can sew a straight line. Something I seem to struggle with. lol They are so fabulous Judy and I am jealous that you can just "whip" something like these up. You are so talented and they turned out just beautiful!

My DH and I just bought our first home and I have been waiting for find the right material to make drapes and this is pretty much the best thing on blogger. Just a great and simple tutorial... This is great thank you so much.

Hey Judy--Love how your draperies turned out. This is a brand new fabric for us at Calico Corners, and it has already proven to be a great seller. If you go on our website, calicocorners.com you can see an entire room done in this fabric. I know you have a lot of talented folks following you, but for those that can't or don't have the time to sew-- Calico can make the draperies in addition to just selling the fabric. After seeing our photos of the room that this fabric was featured in, I had hundreds of requests for the paint color-- Ben Moore Dill Pickle, if any of your readers are interested. Thanks for being a Calico Corner supporter, and I like your blog--

Hey Judy--Your draperies look beautiful--Even though the fabric you choose is brand new, it has already proven to be popular. There are more pictures of rooms done in this fabric at calicocorners.com. The paint color we used to go with the fabric you chose is Ben Moore Dill Pickle (sharing this as I've had hundreds of emails about this). I think your blog is both educational and inspirational-- but for those of your followers who are not up for a drapery challenge, we will sew the draperies for them as well as providing the fabric--Keep up the good workBestGreg LawrenceVP Creative AffairsCalicoCorners Calico Home

This is such a great tutorial! And they look amazing. I love your fabric choice! Would love for you to link it up to Fabulous Friday! http://ohhbabydesigns.blogspot.com/2011/09/fabulous-friday-5-easy-artwork.html

These are beautiful!! I have to go find this fabric, I have no idea how to sew though. I have white curtains now and I want to go to pinch pleats. This would give me the white I like for brightness and contrast with my gray walls along with the blue and greens I have as accent colors!

Wow so beautiful! Pinch-pleat drapes are a standard in window coverings. They are versatile enough to fit any decor and attractive on a variety of window styles. Anyone who possesses basic sewing skills can make pinch-pleat drapes using a pinch-pleat tape. Once the standard drapery panels are constructed, you only need to sew the panel of pinch-pleat tape to the top of the drapery panel and gather the panels to form the pleats. Thank you...

These are great and so thorough! I have a couple of questions. The first is that, since you are hemming lining and curtain fabric together on 3 sides, it's like a pillow case of sorts, right? And then flip and press. No additional seam to fasten them together? Does this hold its shape well? And second, when you sew on the pleater tape, I'm assuming you used a simple stitch on a sewing machine. Yes? Did the stitches show on the outside of the curtain? And was that ok? Did you consider stitching in a different way so they didn't show?

These are great and so thorough! I have a couple of questions. The first is that, since you are hemming lining and curtain fabric together on 3 sides, it's like a pillow case of sorts, right? And then flip and press. No additional seam to fasten them together? Does this hold its shape well? And second, when you sew on the pleater tape, I'm assuming you used a simple stitch on a sewing machine. Yes? Did the stitches show on the outside of the curtain? And was that ok? Did you consider stitching in a different way so they didn't show?

These are great and so thorough! I have a couple of questions. The first is that, since you are hemming lining and curtain fabric together on 3 sides, it's like a pillow case of sorts, right? And then flip and press. No additional seam to fasten them together? Does this hold its shape well? And second, when you sew on the pleater tape, I'm assuming you used a simple stitch on a sewing machine. Yes? Did the stitches show on the outside of the curtain? And was that ok? Did you consider stitching in a different way so they didn't show?

Can't tell you how much I love this tutorial - I've been looking to make some drapes but had no idea how to do the pinch pleat (or that there was such a thing as pleater's tape!!). Using the flat sheets as lining is genius for keeping the price low too. Now I can put my late grandma's drapery supplies to use since I know what to do now:)

This blog shows very beautiful Pleat Drapes . Hanging curtains in the kitchen is an easy way to add a bit of whimsy to the kitchen or to give it that finished feeling and look . We spend a major amount of time in to today's kitchens. Today's kitchen curtains come in all shapes, styles, sizes, patterns, colors and fabrics. And also these blog gives the idea how to make a Pleat Drapes. Thanks for providing valuable information.Silk Curtains

Thank you so much for taking the time to make this tutorial.I have very odd sized windows and can’t seem to find any pinch pleated curtains that I can buy.You made it look simple and I know I can sew a straight line so I think it will be possible to dress up my windows.

This is a very good tutorial, and the fabric you chose is lovely. I am wondering if you'd comment on using sheets for drapes. I see Walmart mainstay sheets that match my comforter, and I'd line them with the sheets as you have. I love the idea of making the curtains out of kind size sheets and saving all that money. But I am not sure the drapes wouldn't turn out too flimsy. Would drapery weights offset the possible flimsiness?

Hope I can word this question so you understand what I mean. How do you make the fabric and the pleater tape come out even? Seems simple but is there a rule for where to put the first pleat so that you get the right number of pleats for the width of the fabric? Thanks.

Awesome tips. I like it. glass sliding doors . I always make my own curtains and have to compliment you on your clear tutorial -you are right- more thabnanything, it is very time consuming but so rewarding.

Thanks for the post, and I really like that little craft. But I think I might have to do something like that, because the drapery rods and drapes that I want to get are apparently too expensive according to my husband. So we're going to have to somehow compromise.

Hi Judy, I'm contemplating making my own pinch pleat drapes for my tub surround. I usually "assist" in these types of projects, so making that first cut is very scary. I already have the fabric. Now I just need the courage. Thanks for the tutorial.

Hi Judy,Im having a little trouble trying to figure out how you work in the 4 in for the top seam of curtain...you havent mentioned in your tutorial the extra 4in you alloted when sizing/cutting the fabric for the curtain. Can you please help me. Im lost.

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